Inside a crumbling, decayed high-rise that looked ready to collapse in the wind at any moment.
Hisoka was sitting on the floor, idly playing with one card after another.
Suddenly, his hand moved, and the Joker in his fingers slipped and fell.
He raised his head and found three figures standing at the stairwell entrance.
One of them was none other than the leader of the Phantom Troupe, Chrollo Lucilfer.
As for the other two, one was a cold-eyed blonde woman with a devilish figure and a high nose, her chest still uncovered beneath her clothes; the other was a mysterious man even shorter than Feitan, his long hair covering his face and revealing only one eye.
The corner of Hisoka's mouth slowly curled into a perverse smile.
So, I've finally found you, Chrollo.
...
That night, inside the abandoned building.
All the members of the Phantom Troupe had gathered here according to their special method of assembly.
Aside from the leader Chrollo, there were also Machi, Shizuku, Hisoka, Feitan, and Franklin.
There was also the sword-carrying drifter Nobunaga Hazama; the barbarian-like, silver-haired Uvogin, whose entire body was packed with explosive muscle and strength; Phinks, dressed like an Egyptian pharaoh with his love of strange outfits; Shalnark, who had a baby face, looked especially like a certain fighting game character, and liked playing games himself; the blonde beauty Pakunoda; and Kortopi, whose long hair covered his face and revealed only one eye.
Leader Chrollo stood at the highest point, while the troupe members were scattered across different chunks of stone.
All twelve members of the Phantom Troupe had assembled here.
"Twelve people?"
The short Feitan looked around. "One person's still missing. That new No. 12?"
"That guy doesn't take the leader's orders seriously at all, does he?" Shalnark said. "From that alone, you can tell he's either someone who completely ignores rules, or someone who doesn't care about the Troupe at all~"
Just as Shalnark's voice fell, a frivolous voice rang out:
"Oh my, oh my, you can't say that, little brother. I'm very obedient when it comes to the leader's orders. It's just that I ran into a bit of trouble on the way here, so I got delayed a little."
The moment they heard that voice, Machi and Franklin knew who it was.
That guy had arrived.
Including the leader, everyone turned to look in the direction the voice came from, only to see a man in a black trench coat and a strange mask standing there.
"A heavy smell of blood."
The moment they noticed Ilo, every member of the Phantom Troupe caught the strong scent of fresh blood in the air.
This guy had killed people before coming here, and definitely not just a few.
"So this guy's a slaughter-happy type too~" Shalnark added another definition to Ilo in his mind.
"So Franklin said this guy's faster than me?" Feitan narrowed his eyes, seemingly thinking about something.
"Alright. Since everyone is here, I'll explain the goal of the Phantom Troupe."
Chrollo, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke. His voice was gentle, yet it carried a strange kind of magnetism that drew everyone's attention back to him.
"As for tomorrow's auction~" Chrollo swept his gaze across the room and smiled. "Treasure. Every treasure up for bid—we take it all."
"Are you serious, Leader?" Uvogin said expressionlessly.
"The underground auction is held by agreement among mafia organizations from all over the world. If we make a move, that means the Phantom Troupe will be making enemies of the entire underworld."
Uvogin's whole body began to tremble.
"Making enemies of the entire underworld, huh~" A gleam flashed through Ilo's eyes. "Looks like the intersection Roy-sama mentioned should be right here. The Phantom Troupe and the Ten Dons beat each other half to death, and then I step in and pick up the leftovers?"
"Are you scared, Uvogin~" the leader asked softly, in an utterly casual tone.
"No..." Uvogin gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm thrilled! Give the order, Leader! Give the order now!!!"
"I give the order now..." Chrollo's eyes were deep as an abyss as he said, "Kill them all."
"Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!"
The other members of the Phantom Troupe all revealed expressions that said they understood.
Seeing that, Chrollo smiled faintly and turned around, walking up the higher steps.
"Um, Leader, I want to ask something. When you said 'kill them all,' who exactly does 'them' refer to?"
An untimely voice rang out...
Uvogin's laughter stopped abruptly, and Chrollo also halted and turned his head, only to find Ilo with his hand raised.
That seemingly foolish question had come from him.
"Them? Obviously that means the mafia families gathered in Yorknew City~" Feitan said, looking at him sideways.
"I see~" Ilo nodded as if suddenly enlightened, then lowered his hand.
"But, Leader~" he said in a rather troubled tone, "before I came here, I already killed quite a few of the gangsters in Yorknew City. I don't know how many of them are still alive now~"
"Hm?"
Every member of the Phantom Troupe raised an eyebrow.
"So the heavy blood smell on you was because of that?..." Shalnark said softly.
"Yeah. While I was eating, that bunch barged in without caring about anything and started spraying bullets at some guy in the restaurant."
Ilo looked displeased.
"As a result, the blood that burst out when those bullets hit him splashed all the way over to my side and seriously ruined my appetite. Of course I wasn't going to let that slide, so I went to reason with them."
Hearing that, Franklin's mouth twitched, while clear interest appeared on Uvogin's face.
"And then?" Uvogin was the one who asked.
"And then, those people were completely unreasonable. They even pointed their guns at me. Since they wanted my life, naturally I didn't show mercy either~" Ilo shrugged.
"After I dealt with all of them, more and more people gathered to come after me. At that point, I had no choice. They were the ones being unreasonable and trying to attack me, so they couldn't blame me for what happened. Since they were so eager to die, I fulfilled their wish... After that, more people kept coming, and I kept killing more of them, until in the end I couldn't see anyone in suits and sunglasses anymore. Only then did I head over here~~~"
Ilo spoke as lightly as if he were talking about stepping on a bunch of ants.
"Seriously, beat the small fry and bigger fry show up; beat the bigger fry and a squad leader comes; beat the squad leader and a captain comes; beat the captain and a division chief comes; beat the division chief and then the supreme boss comes~~~" Ilo folded his arms across his chest and said with gloating amusement, "Maybe those mafia families are down to nothing but a bare commander now~"
(End of Chapter)
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